Stars Still Battling for Playoff Spot

Anaheim kept its playoff hopes alive with a solid road trip.
 
Dallas, on the other hand, has seen its drive toward the postseason take a hit during a disappointing run at home.
 
Corey Perry scored the tying goal in the third period, Teemu Selanne added the winner 1:31 later and the Anaheim Ducks handed the Dallas Stars their fourth straight home loss, 4-3 on Saturday.
 
The Ducks, who along with the Stars are fighting for the last playoff spots in the Western Conference, blew a 2-0 lead before coming back late.
 
"It's been a long road trip," Selanne said. "It is always great to come back in the third period on the road. Both our team and Dallas, we're way better than what we've played. It's disappointing, but there's still time. Things are in our own hands."
 
The Ducks are 3-2 on a six-game trip and can finish it with a winning record Tuesday night at Chicago. The Stars are 1-4 on a homestand that ends Sunday against Pittsburgh.
 
Dallas, Anaheim, Edmonton and Minnesota came into the day tied for seventh place in the West.
 
"We might need to go on the road a bit," said Mike Ribeiro, who had two goals and an assist for the Stars. "You can't control what's happened the last few games. But we should have closed that game and got some points out of it."
 
Ribeiro's goal gave Dallas a 3-2 lead at 4:22 of the third.
 
Perry tied it with a backhander at 8:50 of the final period, and Selanne scored his 572nd career goal at 10:21 to give the Stars their longest-losing streak of the season.
 
"It was a big game for our team," said goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who stopped 30 shots to win his 200th game for the Ducks. "We'll finish the road trip with at least a .500 record."
 
Matt Niskanen had a goal and an assist, and Marty Turco, who made his 32nd straight start, stopped 14 shots for Dallas. The Stars, who lost No. 2 scorer Brad Richards with a broken wrist before the homestand, have scored only five goals in their losing streak.
 
"We're in a playoff battle," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said. "I don't care who's playing. They need to get the job done. We've got some weak links."
 
Andrew Ebbett had a goal and two assists, Scott Niedermayer added a goal, and Bobby Ryan chipped in with two assists for the Ducks.
 
On the game-winning score, Ebbett stole the puck from James Neal and fed Selanne in front of the net.
 
The Ducks bounced back after losing 6-0 to Boston on Thursday. Giguere was pulled early in the second period after allowing three goals on the first eight shots he faced.
 
"It's been an up-and-down season for me and for the team," Giguere said. "When these things happen, you want to try to bounce back."
 
Anaheim scored on the its first shot of game.
 
Niedermayer fired a shot past Turco in the slot 1:56 into the game.
 
On a power play, Ebbett redirected Chris Pronger's shot into the net to give Anaheim a 2-0 lead at 12:11 of the first.
 
Ribeiro picked up a rebound of Darryl Sydor's shot and sneaked it past Giguere for a power-play goal at 1:23 of the second. Dallas had missed on its last 13 chances on power plays over the last three games.
 
Niskanen scored on a one-timer from the left to circle to tie the game at 2 at 8:09 of the second.